Great episode, and a little bit sad, as Cliff can be portrayed. The know-it-all who gets his own private hater, a big Italian tough guy that for some reason, Sam doesn't throw him out, which he should have. But this was the first true Cliff episode, and is a good one.
6 Reviews
More Serious Than Some Episodes
Hitchcoc14 August 2019
Cliff's running off at the mouth ticks off a guy in the bar. The guy is pretty humorless and challenges our erstwhile mailman.. Cliff, of course, chickens out which leads to later consequences. This episode is more serious than most. Cliff is actually in danger and shows some real stupidity.
Cliff's Rocky Moment (#2.16)
ComedyFan20108 May 2014
Warning: Spoilers
One of the guys in the bar gets tired of Cliff and challenges him to a fight. Cliff doesn't want to fight but all his friends think he is a coward, so he says he just doesn't want to hurt him as he has a black belt in karate, but nobody believes him. So he does a great demonstration and breaks a wooden plate and a brick with his head. Everyone is impressed but he has to go to a hospital as he knows no karate.
The episode is a bit slow. There is no reason for the guy to be mad at Cliff and the whole episode is a bit tired. But the ending is great, nice twist and John Ratzenberger was great in this episode.
The episode is a bit slow. There is no reason for the guy to be mad at Cliff and the whole episode is a bit tired. But the ending is great, nice twist and John Ratzenberger was great in this episode.
Cliff's Greatest Moment
dgplatt-601219 March 2024
This is the episode where Cliff Clavin truly become the character we all know and love(?). In Season One he was the most vocal of the barflies, but he wasn't established as a bar regular. In his first starring episode (Little Sister Don't Cha), they played up his awkwardness with women. Here we have the real Cliff: a blowhard and a coward, but still someone you'd defend in a bar fight.
A newcomer to the bar (Peter Iancangelo, looking quite a bit like Danny Aiello) decides he's had enough of Cliff's endless blather and challenges him to a fight. Cliff chickens out and returns with Lewis, a large Black coworker with a surly disposition. The bully backs down, until Lewis agrees that Cliff is annoying and leaves.
Some critics have commented on the racial politics of this episode. In a show noted for having a very white cast, it's unfortunate that one of the most memorable roles for a black actor is a tough, scary guy. However, Sam Scarber is pretty funny as Lewis ("How am I supposed to know Leslie Uggams?") and he illustrates Cliff's cowardice perfectly.
This would be enough to make this a classic episode, but the B plot puts it over the top. This is where we learn the infamous Diane Chambers system for sports betting. Diane is obviously trolling Sam, but she's also winning, and Sam accuses her of "destroying the sport of football."
Everybody is in top form here, and Coach gets one of his best lines ("Thanks. I need a brick"). A top ten episode for sure.
A newcomer to the bar (Peter Iancangelo, looking quite a bit like Danny Aiello) decides he's had enough of Cliff's endless blather and challenges him to a fight. Cliff chickens out and returns with Lewis, a large Black coworker with a surly disposition. The bully backs down, until Lewis agrees that Cliff is annoying and leaves.
Some critics have commented on the racial politics of this episode. In a show noted for having a very white cast, it's unfortunate that one of the most memorable roles for a black actor is a tough, scary guy. However, Sam Scarber is pretty funny as Lewis ("How am I supposed to know Leslie Uggams?") and he illustrates Cliff's cowardice perfectly.
This would be enough to make this a classic episode, but the B plot puts it over the top. This is where we learn the infamous Diane Chambers system for sports betting. Diane is obviously trolling Sam, but she's also winning, and Sam accuses her of "destroying the sport of football."
Everybody is in top form here, and Coach gets one of his best lines ("Thanks. I need a brick"). A top ten episode for sure.
"Shut up, Clint!"
pedroedro10 September 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Cliff is getting on the nerves of a fellow costumer of "Cheer's" who always makes snarky remarks about how he never shuts up about every subject, Carla provokes Cliff to stand up to the costumer, and that's when Cliff is challenged to a fight. I didn't love this episode, it's an ok story, but some things about it make it really strange, for example: The costumer, shows to be very cruel to Cliff but at the same time very polite with everyone else, and there's no real reason for this character to be this upset as he is, but if at least we were shown, he is like that to various people it would show some coherence to the nature of this "costumer character". What saves this from being a bad episode is Raztenberger's acting which shines more than ever as it is from what I can remember, the first "Cliff's" episode. The ending is pretty sweet too, as they keep the public guessing for real if Cliff is lying or telling the truth in a manner that it wouldn't be obvious either way. There's also a minor side story about pools and how Diane choses the teams for things like the name of the team, the colour of uniforms and dominant flowers and ends up winning more than Sam. I though, althought cute, this was a wasted plot, it doesn´t go anywhere and at the end we see Sam making a same kind of bet as Diane was doing, and Diane is showing up beside him, but then the scene is cut abruptly to Cliff's story and it's never mention again. Just ok episode, but good for Cliff. ****** 6/10 Peter Shelby
Making your way in the world today, takes everything you've got. Taking a break from all your worries, sure would help a lot.
bombersflyup18 February 2021
Warning: Spoilers
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